Stories & culture

Pharisees and Sadducees: what was the difference?

The two main Jewish parties of Jesus’ day show up on almost every page of the Gospels. Here is who they were and why it matters.

The rock in the Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem LCCN2003653103 — Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress. Public domain. Image credits

Key verse

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.”

Matthew 23:23

World English Bible (public domain)

The background

Two main Jewish parties in Jesus' day: Pharisees, popular teachers of the Law and tradition; Sadducees, priestly aristocrats tied to the Temple.

Pharisees believed in resurrection and angels and kept oral traditions; Sadducees rejected these (Acts 23:8).
Pharisees were respected lay experts; Paul, Nicodemus, and Gamaliel were Pharisees.
Sadducees held most high-priestly power; Caiaphas likely belonged to their circle.
Jesus criticized hypocrisy, not the desire to obey God; many Pharisees later believed (Acts 15:5).

Debated: How influential the Pharisees were, and how much later rabbinic sources reflect them, is debated.

The culture behind the text

Whitewashed tombsBefore Passover, Jews whitewashed tombs so pilgrims wouldn't accidentally touch them and become unclean. Pretty on the outside, dead inside. Phylacteries and tassels were made larger to show off devotion.Matthew 23:5, 23:27

Study notes

Phylacteries and fringes · Matthew 23:5Leather boxes (tefillin) containing Scripture texts, and tassels (tzitzit) on garments. Jesus faults making them showy.

How the Bible connects it

Every cross-reference in Lampstead says why it’s linked. A few from this page:

Matthew 23:23 → Luke 11:42Why: Luke records the same woe on those who tithe herbs but neglect justice and the love of GodBut woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.Matthew 23:23 → Micah 6:8Why: Micah says God requires justice, mercy, and humble faithfulness, the weightier matters Jesus namesHe has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?Matthew 23:23 → Matthew 9:13Why: Jesus told the Pharisees to learn that God desires mercy, the mercy they neglect hereBut you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.Matthew 23:23 → Hosea 6:6Why: God says he desires mercy and not sacrifice, the weightier matter the Pharisees missedFor I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Study this deeper in Lampstead

Read Matthew 23 with verse-by-verse study notes, cross-references that explain why they’re linked, people and places. Free during the beta.

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Sources behind these notes: E. P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE-66 CE (1992); Flavius Josephus, trans. H. St. J. Thackeray et al., Jewish Antiquities and Jewish War (Loeb Classical Library) (1926-1965); Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus (1969); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834–85); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), "Phylacteries". Bible text: World English Bible (public domain).